What is a BARS assessment? Assessment types The process Contact →
Home›Assessment types
BARS Institute · New Zealand

Assessment types built around one question: what is biological risk costing you?

BARS converts vineyard disease condition into quantified financial impairment — the same independent evidence base whether you're planning this season's capital spend or supporting a valuation, lending, or transaction decision.

Vineyard biological condition is often assessed visually. In white varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, leafroll virus can be present without visible symptoms. A block may appear healthy while carrying material disease burden.

That risk doesn't disappear because no transaction is underway. It sits in the vineyard, accumulating cost every season it goes unmeasured — and if a lending review, audit, or sale does eventually ask the question, it transfers to whoever is holding the asset at the time, unresolved.

BARS provides biological evidence translated into financial impairment figures — for your own capital planning and operational decisions, and for the valuation, lending, or transaction workflows that may draw on the same evidence when required. It does not replace a registered valuation, accounting opinion, or credit decision — it provides the biological condition evidence those decisions may draw on.

What every BARS assessment produces
Block-level virus prevalence
Lab-confirmed, not estimated from visual inspection
Financial impairment
Expected and stress-case NPV in $/ha and % of clean asset value
Replant timing by block
When each block is projected to reach its replant threshold
Independent documentation
Structured for internal capital planning and board reporting, and for valuation reports, credit memos, or due diligence packages where required
Assessment types
BARS Report
1 visit
The standard assessment for vineyard operators — also structured to support valuation, lending, and transaction workflows

Quantifies GLRaV-3 prevalence and trunk disease burden using composite lab testing, then translates the result into financial impairment figures. Where positive detection is confirmed, full impairment modelling is produced from the same visit data.

Decision outputs
  • Virus prevalence score — GLRaV-3, 0–100
  • Trunk disease incidence score — 0–100
  • NPV impairment P50 and P95 — $/ha and % of clean asset value
  • Replant trigger year per block
  • Intervention value — financial difference between management scenarios
  • Standard sensitivity tables
  • Independent report structured for valuation and lending files
Enhanced Due Diligence
2 visits
For buyers and new owners who need vine-level confirmation and spatial detail

Provides lab-confirmed vine-level testing on all positive bays and a spatial map of infection extent, distinguishing isolated results from a broader infection zone.

Decision outputs
  • Vine-level virus prevalence — lab-confirmed on all positive bays
  • Spatial infection map showing clustering and extent
  • Vine-level co-occurrence of virus and trunk disease
  • Revised NPV impairment P50 and P95 at vine-level precision
  • Replant trigger year — narrowed uncertainty interval
  • Full sensitivity tables
  • Independent technical appendix for valuation, legal, or insurance use
Annual Monitor
1 visit
For growers and lenders tracking whether biological risk is moving as projected

Updates an existing BARS Report and tests whether disease progression is tracking as modelled. Where observed spread exceeds the stress case, a divergence flag is issued and impairment figures are revised. Requires an existing BARS Report as a baseline.

Decision outputs
  • Updated virus and trunk disease scores
  • Year-on-year comparison against modelled projection
  • Management divergence flag where spread exceeds stress case
  • Revised impairment figures where divergence is confirmed
  • Spatial overlay showing year-on-year infection distribution change
Who relies on BARS assessments

Designed for the people who carry the consequences of biological risk — whether that's this season's operational budget, or liability if a transaction or lending decision turns on it later.

Growers
Registered valuers
Wholesale and institutional lenders
Vineyard purchasers and advisers
Legal and transaction advisers
Why it matters
Disease affects yield, replant timing, and asset longevity — the same drivers behind this season's operational budget, and, when relevant, valuation, lending security, and transaction risk. BARS turns biological condition into one number that holds up across all of them.
BARS outputs are independent decision-support evidence. They do not constitute a registered valuation, accounting opinion, or credit approval recommendation. They do not determine market value, loan terms, impairment recognition, or financial statement treatment. The application of BARS outputs to valuation adjustments, impairment testing, and lending decisions is a matter of professional judgment for the engaging valuer, lender, or adviser.

Talk about your vineyard

Contact Sarah Macfarlane directly to discuss scope, timing, and what a BARS assessment would add — whether that's this season's capital planning or a transaction, lending, or valuation decision.

Contact BARS Institute →